Accessories

With the Mobile World Congress on the horizon, the top smartphone vendors (Apple, Blackberry, HTC, LG Mobile, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony) are ramping up products that were introduced and released earlier this year and fine tuning the messaging for the upcoming event that will give them the opportunity to leverage the publicity, innovative mobile accessory launches that accompany these global gatherings. So, Samsung is in a great position to capitalize on the momentum on the world stage for its latest international device, the SamsungGalaxy Note.

As with other Samsung offerings, this unlocked cell phone has gone through a series of transformations before reaching the shores of North America and will align with its American siblings in certain areas. With four touch sensitive buttons under the screen and a Snapdragon S3 chipset under the hood, the 1.5 GHz dual-core Scorpion processor is a differentiator from the Exynos silicon found in the global version of the handset.

And, with the added LTE connectivity, S Pen (stylus and pen), and large 5.3” Super AMOLED screen, this device looks to create its own niche and make its own waves in the mobile device industry. There is a slew of features that make this smartabletphone a good fit for some customers including a microSD slot (a nice consideration for a device that is likely to eat up a lot of storage), video recording in 1080p that has USB host and TV-out support, and full Flash support which is definitely sought out in media playing devices. The specs are long and worth checking out, but I would venture to say that the peripheral devices and accessories that will come along with this device will also be key.

The size of the handset will make headsets and Bluetooth devices all the more imperative for those customers using the Galaxy Note as one-handed use is bound to be tricky. Purchase of a protective accessory that precludes the need to fit this smartabletphone in your pocket is also a likely necessity. All in all, Samsung has created a device that answers the needs of consumers who are looking to consolidate the number of devices they tote around. The functionality will please many, but to truly get the most from this handset, customers will have to plan carefully and invest in the best accessories and peripheral devices to fit their usage and lifestyle – all of which we look forward to seeing and reviewing at the MWC!

Can you hear the Apple machine cranking? The infamous company has yet to reach its zenith for this century according to Gartner reports and financial projections of the past few weeks and its adoring public is not likely to disappoint or be disappointed.

Tablets will see an explosion in sales over the next four years, selling 60% as many units as PCs by 2015 – and Apple iPad will still have almost half the market by then, says the research group Gartner in a bullish forecast.

After delivering a surprisingly popular (and by last quarter’s earnings reports, buyable) iPhone 4S, we are more prepared than ever to see the company’s latest iPad. The iPad 3 has had rumors swirling about it for months now. Considering the slate is to be the third in a line of tablet royalty, it is no wonder that the speculation and press around the device could easily fit into the format of US Weekly. And would probably be interesting than reading about the

So when we caught wind that images of the device had been published by the Chinese language Apple Daily before the official announcement, inquiring minds needed to know just how accurate those images were considering the limited visuals that had been previously leaked. We are also keeping an ear to the ground for any news on Apple iPad3 accessories

Happily, previous reports seem in line with what was seen in the Apple Daily. The case will be familiar to iPad2 users, but has the twist: a gradual taper leading from the back to the edges. This will likely translate into new accessories needed for the new slate, but that remains to be seen.

From the spec perspective, the Apple Daily reconfirms that the iPad3 will have a 9.7-inch Retina Display and an 8-megapixel camera. With a quad-core Apple A6 processor and embedded 4G LTE connectivity under the hood, customers will not be disappointed. Apple is expected to debut the iPad3 at a press conference early March where we will hopefully hear more of plans to pair exclusively with a telecommunications carrier or if the device will be made available unlocked.

LG’s high-end Androidsmartphone offerings have been somewhat disappointing in the past. As such, when we caught wind of the upcoming LG X3 superphone we were unsure how to react in expectation of this new device. However, based on the information provided Paul O’Brien of MoDaCo, the anonymously leaked screenshots and benchmarks for this handset, LG may have a winner on its hands when they unveil the LC X3 as their new flagship device at this month’s Mobile World Congress.

What can we glean from the screenshots? They suggest that the X3 will have either a lightly skinned version of LG’s overlay running or simply stock Android ICS (4.0.3). The quad-core processor previously mentioned should mean great performance for everyday tasks. And with 16GB internal memory that can be expanded to 48GB thanks to an internal microSD slot, a power processor helps ensure that users have the space to download, stream, and share their music, photos and other data.

Interested consumers may look forward to seeing a 2000mAh battery, 8 megapixel rear-facing camera that supposedly rocks an uber fast shutter. The front-facing camera isn’t as impressive, but will get the job done in a pinch. Through in an NFC chip and you can one of those neat NFC chip enable smartphone protective case wallets that bring a new meaning to fashion and function.

We are optimistic that LG will bring a worthy contender to the Mobile World Congress and dispel the misgivings and fears of those that been scared off by less than stellar mobile OS experiences with LG. If they fall flat, at least we will not be adrift in an Android-less sea of smartphone offerings from other manufacturers.

Riddle me this Batman: what exactly is an exabyte? Technically it is “a unit of information or computer storage equal to 1quintillion bytes.” Wrapping your head around this large of a number is like trying to fathom the national debt of the United States and all of its ramifications.

So when we saw Cisco’s Visual Networking Forecast that shows global mobile data traffic projection for the next five years, the numbers were similarly difficult to swallow: 10.8 exabytes per month. To put it in perspective, this is an 18-fold increase from today’s data consumption. And with 71% of this massive amount of data will be consumed by cloud traffic and the approximate 10 billion mobile Internet-connected devices projected to be in use in 2016.

With the world population expected to be 7.3 billion, these numbers point to a trend of consumers toting around more than one device. They will be streaming video, data, and music at faster speeds on their tablets, smartphones, iPod, MacBooks and laptops televisions thanks to quickly adopted technology from LTE networks to the actual devices. More specifically, it is the jump in smartphone adoption that is the driving force in these huge data growth projections as this will account for 8 billion of the 10 billion devices expected to be in use.

This staggering number of devices and leaps in technology will likely have a domino effect where consumers will require smarter accessories to integrate their devices into daily life without becoming cumbersome. And, with this kind of huge adoption of technology and cloud services, the question of what role the telecommunication giants will have comes into play. Even now we are seeing a shift towards internet-based services and unlocked cell phones that provide consumers with other choices beyond the traditional carriers.

Wherever the trends and technology go, we will be sure to keep you apprised as they change and shape a different future.

Managing Customer churn as well acquiring new customers is an ongoing problem for all carriers... as such, they make it difficult for customers to switch providers. To this end, practically all carriers worldwide engage in 'false highly-persuasive' advertising. They will typically lure consumers with the offer of FREE smartphone and then hook, reel and lock them in with long term service plans that are designed to not only subsidize the cost of the cell phone but provide wireless voice & data services at premium prices. To further enforce customer loyalty, carriers lock their giveaway phones to only work within their network frequencies - thus making it difficult for consumers to leave them for another carrier.

In some cases, the programming may be easy to reverse, with the user simply reformatting the cell phone or removing the phone's memory card. In other instances, the phone may be designed in such a way that it is impossible to use it with another network, with most cell phone brands, like Apple, Blackberry, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, HTC, LG Mobile and Sony to name a few, manufacturing specific phones for particular networks.

In contrast, an unlocked phone are simply handsets that aren't handcuffed to a specific carrier's service package can be used on any network.

A cellphone handset is like a body without a brain. It can't make calls unless it has a thumbnail-sized chip called a SIM card installed. The SIM card identifies an individual phone on a cellular network so that calls can be routed to it as the handset is carried from place to place, so the owner's account can be billed for air time and long-distance fees, and so on.

When a phone is bought on a service plan, the SIM card in that phone is linked to the subscriber's ID information for billing. Most carriers lock the phone by programming its software so that it will only work with the SIM card they provide — try to swap it with a card from another carrier because it has a cheaper service plan, for example, and the phone won't recognize it.

An unlocked cellphone is one that will recognize any SIM card. So if you're travelling in Europe and don't want to incur roaming charges or have every local call billed as long distance by your regular North American cellphone carrier, you can buy a local European carrier's card during your stay and pop it into your regular phone.

The caveat is that there are two main cellphone networks, and they aren't compatible with one another. One is based on the CDMA standard, which is popular in North America and parts of Asia, and used by Bell and Telus in Canada. The other is GSM, which is used by Rogers in Canada and is the most common cellphone standard outside North America, used by more than 2 billion subscribers in most countries around the world.

An unlocked phone will work on a compatible network — CDMA phones on CDMA networks and GSM handsets on GSM networks. But many CDMA phones have the SIM card built in, and have to be reprogrammed directly to make the phone work on another carrier's network. Most GSM handsets, on the other hand, have a slot that allows a SIM card to be swapped easily by the user. As a result, unlocked cellphones available in Canada are predominantly GSM models.

For all its brand recognition and funding power, Microsoft has not seen a high adoption rate of its mobile software in the past. However, this year looks to be a new chapter in the company’s move to diversify its end point offerings from traditional PCs, notebooks, MacBooks, smartphones and tablets. This is being accomplished with partnering with companies like Nokia and BlueStack that will widen their customer base and mobile device sales.

Another recent move to accomplish this was bringing OneNote to Apple’s iOS and Android users will have the cloud-synced note-taking app at their disposal as well. Leveraging this popular organizational tool, Microsoft is spreading its net far by including Apple and Android. And, multi-mobile OS platform availability highlights the changing landscape of customers wanting the device, apps, and mobile OS of their choice which explains the increased popularity of unlocked smartphones.

Those with Android 2.3 or above can try out the app with 500 notes for free before having to shell out $4.99 to purchase the full version. With established competition like Evernote, Springpad and the up and coming Catch Notes, OneNote is a solid alternative where end users can edit tables synced from the desktop app and create to-do lists. Other features like photo notes, bulleted lists, check boxes and highlights make for a great experience even though custom tables cannot be made and synced.

Microsoft looks to be making its move with savvy and has a multi-pronged approach. So, we have yet to see what the Mobile World Congress will bring to continue this trend whether it is with accessories or other technology pairings. Whatever is brought to the table, we look forward to it!

A recent CTO presentation I attended addressed the changing security landscape we are facing with consumerization - what I deem to be… (choice of our own devices for corporate and personal use from our smartphones to our tablets. This brought up the pros and cons of the various operating systems out there: iOS, Research In Motion, Android and Windows. The graphic associated with the Apple slide was a glass biosphere that was thriving and completely self-contained – the perfectly controlled environment.

This closed environment comes at a price: consumers have little control over their OS and the possibility of customizing to their needs. Requests for changes and customer gripes are eventually addressed. iPhone users now have MMS, multitasking, copy and paste and a full list of other revisions that also make our tablets and media players better. Unfortunately, one issue they haven’t fixed is control over alerts.

Just imagine an area in settings where custom alerts could be set. Different profile modes where the choice of ring, vibrate, volume, and ringtones can be chosen. Apple could take a page out of RIM’s book; BlackBerry cell phones have long had this kind of alert controls. And, there is room for improvement that could include location-based profile alerts (example, goes to silent in movie theatre) and the like. Perhaps hanit could connect in those settings to all devices on the platform including the iPad, iPhone, iPod, etc).

No matter if you’d like your Bluetooth turned off when you walk through the door at night or have different rings and notifications based on who is calling or texting, iOS users should have a bit more flexibility with their high-end devices. Moving to an iPhone from RIM and Android was challenging and this writer is still baffled that the handset is simply either “on” or on “vibrate.”

Research In Motion certainly isn’t competing at the same level as Apple in terms of handsets, accessories and projected sales these days, but this is one area where the Canadian company trumps the iPhone capabilities.

The brain continues to reveal little mysteries and idiosyncrasies that help us to better understand human behavior – especially around our less than stellar choices and vices. Alcohol, drugs, soda, food – these are all known triggers for pleasure centers of the brain. As is online gaming, so it is really no surprise that social media is also addicting. According to a team at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, the networking sites available at the touch of a button could be even more addicting than nicotine or alcohol. Consumers engage in social media through the unlocked cell phones, tablet, iPod and MacBook devices

Retrevo conducted an exceptional report on Social Media use.... truly this is The Mobile Generation:

Social Media All Through the Night

Not only do social media fanatics check Facebook and Twitter throughout the day, almost half of the respondents said they check in on the social media scene in bed, during the night or as soon as they wake up in the morning. Naturally, younger social media users said they tweet by night more than
those over 25.

Need more evidence that social media can be habit forming? How about the fact that 56% of social media users need to check Facebook at least once a day? Even more impressive are the 12% who check in every couple of hours.

Just to round out the picture, the Gadgetology study asked consumers how they felt about being interrupted at various times and occasions for an electronic message. With everyone texting away on their phones these days, we weren't surprised to see over 40% of respondents saying they didn't mind being interrupted for a message. In fact, 32% said a meal was not off limits while 7% said they'd even check out a message during an intimate moment.

Will Twitter Kill the Morning News Shows?

Among social media users, it appears almost half are so involved with Facebook and Twitter that they check in the first thing in the morning. With 16% of social media users saying this is how they get their morning “news,” could we be witnessing the first signs of social media services beginning to replace "Good Morning America" on TV as the source for what's going on in the world? Can they also provide more stimulation than a morning cup of coffee?

Another study was in Germany where the 205 participants were polled through BlackBerry smartphones seven times daily where they had to note if they’d had an urge to use social media in the past 30 minutes and if the participant succumbed to the desire or not. They were also asked to rate the severity of the desire on a scale of mild to “irresistible.”

The full results will be published in the Psychological Science journal, but the preliminary data shows that compared to other addictive behavior, the highest rate of “self-control failures” were in conjunction with social media.

According to the team lead of the study, Wilhelm Hofmann, “Modern life is a welter of assorted desires marked by frequent conflict and resistance, the latter with uneven success.” With traditional addictions, the downside is clear: weight gain, death, monetary loss, damaged relationships. Social networking is more sinister, innocuous, and incredibly accessible. But the downsides are potentially still there in the form of lost time, and frayed relationships (because let’s be honest, how many conversations are conducted on Facebook while sitting on the couch next to a significant other).

So what’s the answer? With tablets, cloud storage, smart TVs and smartphones our connectivity is set to reach an all-time high. The consequences of compulsively checking a social networking site while driving are more clear-cut than intangible time-suck. So if you count yourself as one of the addicted, Bluetooth headset technology solutions and innovative car accessories could be necessary purchases for your handset.

Taiwan’s top smartphone manufacturer, HTC, cannot seem to catch a break when pitted against Apple’s iPhone 4S. The many patent cases that have flown between the two companies have mainly had judgments in Apple’s favor. Based on recent revenue reports, the trend seems to be continuing.

On Monday, earnings for the fourth quarter of last year were released and projections for the first quarter of this year that fall shy of industry expectations. When following the numbers, HTC has seemingly been stuck in second gear since Apple released the iPhone 4S.

To put it in hard numbers, HTC reported consolidated revenue of NT$101.42 billion (US$3.43 billion) for the fourth quarter of 2011, a drop of 25.33 percent from the previous quarter.
HTC also said its revenue may drop 31 to 36 percent sequentially to between NT$65 billion and NT$70 billion in the first quarter of 2012, as it is still undergoing a product cycle transition.

The news doesn’t look much brighter to kick of 2012. The expectation was that HTC would net $85 billion this quarter. Instead, the money looks closer to $64 billion.

So is the manufacturer going the way of Research In Motion (albeit without the bad-boy executive behavior and panache)? Well, that remains to be seen. New products are bound to be released in 2012 that could turn things around, but what how will those smartphones and tablets compare to the Apple competition. Their availability of 4G LTE and unlocked handset options could boost interest and sales as well.

I just love sharing with my readers... the various product survival tests that manufacturers put their various brands through to help ensure that they live to their specified high standards.

Here we got a hold of three separate BlackBerry produced by Ryan P. a hardware Engineering Technician at RIM... these are the Water Test, the Drop Test and the Bend and Flex Test:

The Water Test

For the water test a BlackBerry Curve 9360 was dropped into water, or what they call the “Moisture Ingress Test”. This water contains dye so that they can tell where imperfections are in the design to “improve the device’s water seal”.

The actual drop test is cool and apparently every Berry gets dropped on concrete “hundreds of times” to ensure it’s ready for a full rollout. In the video it’s never states the amount of pressure that used for the bend test, but does confirm “your BlackBerry smartphone can withstand the pressure of your posterior”.

Finally, the keys. Majority of BB users love the QWERTY keyboard – it’s one of the main reasons that makes a BlackBerry so “iconic”. The keys have been pushed, zapped and tested “literally millions of times to sure they click with the right pressure and can withstand all the e-mails, BBM messages and tweets that you type. Have you ever been shocked by a door handle… RIM zaps them with what is called an Electrostatic Discharge, or ESD, to make sure that the sensitive internal components are protected.”